Affiliate Marketing Vs Network Marketing – Definition 2024
You must have heard from many people that Network Marketing is a Scam, Fraud happens here and apart from getting money, you have to pay money from your pocket.
Due to such misconceptions, people often start considering Affiliate Marketing as MLM or Multi-level Marketing and do not explore this industry.
Talking about earning, there is a lot of money in both the industries, for which you have to promote and sell the product.
In such a situation, the question arises that where is the difference and how are the two different?
The difference lies in their Promotion & Selling Process through which Products are recommended and sold.
This blog – Affiliate Marketing Vs Network Marketing has been written only to explain the Selling Process of both and to know the difference between them.
Do read this blog till the end because today you will know what is the difference between Affiliate Marketing And Network Marketing and what is the right choice for you.
First of all, let’s start by understanding Affiliate Marketing And Network Marketing Meaning.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate Marketing is a business model in which you associate with different companies and become their affiliate.
- After becoming an Affiliate, you select some products according to your convenience, which you are given an Affiliate Link to promote.
- Through this Affiliate Link, you have to promote those products where you are given some Affiliate Commission on every Sale or Sign Up.
- You do not need to associate other people with you to promote the product in affiliate marketing.
Along with this, you can join many Affiliate Companies at once and sell their products or services. - Becoming an Affiliate is absolutely free and the Merchant or the company with whom you are joining does not have to pay any Entry Fees.
- To make Affiliate Marketing Profitable, you must have some Following.
That is, you must have people who trust you and know that you will always recommend the right products. - Online Mediums are used to promote Affiliate Products in Affiliate Marketing Industry and when the product is sold, your commission is received only by you and is not distributed with any other person or company.
- In Online Mediums, you can use Website Blog Posts, Social Media Channels, YouTube Videos, Emails etc.
- Your commission in Affiliate Marketing can range from 1% to 100% depending on which Affiliate Program you are associated with.
- Some Common Indian Affiliate Programs include – Amazon Associates, Ebay Partner Program, Commission Junction, vCommission, Bluehost, Etc.
- Affiliate Marketing Example: Suppose you are a digital marketer and give information related to digital marketing through your Blogs, YouTube Videos And Social Media Platforms.You can connect with companies related to your industry and by becoming their Affiliate Partner, you can recommend Affiliate Products to your Audience.For Eg You Can Recommend Domain & Hosting, Recommend Any Tool Or Plugin Or You Can Also Recommend Your Regular Equipment (Viz. Camera, Mic, Laptop, Headphones, Etc.).
I hope you have understood what Affiliate Marketing is and how it is done.
Now let’s talk about Affiliate Marketing And Network Marketing Difference, after understanding which you will be able to take the right decision.
What Is Network Marketing?
Network Marketing, often called Multi-level Marketing or Direct Selling, is a product selling business in which the product is promoted and sold.
Today many people are joining this industry out of which some get success and some fail.
Let us take a look at its functioning to understand Network Marketing.
MLM Companies often hire Sales Representatives instead of delivering their products or services to Direct Customers, whose job is to increase their Networking by Distributing Products and Services.
- Here you first have to join an MLM Company for which some Entry Fees have to be paid.
- After joining, you are given information about the company, seminars are arranged and products are told.You are taught how to reach new people, recommend your product to them, increase your networking by making customers while doing effective communication.
- There are different levels in Network Marketing, on which some percentage of commission goes to every member sitting on it.
For Eg, if you sell a product, then its commission goes to you and your Upper Level Member and also to its Upper Level Members.If a member below your level earns commission by selling some product, then some percentage of it is given to you, some to the level above you and some to those above the level. - As you add other people with you, your networking keeps increasing and whenever they sell some products then you are also given some part of the commission.
In this way, this whole system goes on in which you work under someone and someone else works under you.
Referrals & Word of Mouth are often used to reach customers in Network Marketing.
But, today with the help of digital marketing and internet, you can reach your customers and sell your products online.
Today every industry is using digital marketing, MLM industry is also not behind in this.
Today many Network Marketers are connecting with new customers by creating their Online Presence & Reputation.
Apart from Hebalife, if you are also associated with any other MLM Company like – Vestige, Amway India, Avon, Modicare, Oriflame, etc – then also you must read this blog.
Now if you have understood what MLM is, then come, now is the time to know what is Affiliate Marketing.
Affiliate Marketing And Network Marketing Differences
Let me explain the difference between Affiliate Marketing Vs Network Marketing through the table.
| Affiliate marketing | network marketing |
|---|---|
| This is a Performance Based Business Model in which you deliver your Affiliate Products to people without connecting them with you. | This is a Hierarchical Business Model in which commission is earned by adding more and more people with you. |
| The goal of Affiliate Marketers is to grow their business by creating a Healthy Relationship with their Affiliates. | Business Goal of MLM Schemes is to promote their products and services through Distributors or Sales Representatives, which increases their revenue. |
| No Affiliate Company takes any kind of Entry Fees from its Affiliates. | To join MLM Company you have to pay some Entry Fees. |
| If a product is sold through your Affiliate Link, then its commission comes only to you. | In this, apart from you, your commission is also distributed among other Upper Level Members. |
| You have the freedom to associate with different Affiliate Marketing Companies. | You can join only one Network Marketing Company. |
| Affiliate Marketing Companies always keep competitive price of their products. | Products sold by MLM Company are expensive because it has different levels to which commission is required to reach. |
| Here from writing Blogs, Proven Digital Marketing Strategies like YouTube Videos, Social Media, SEO, Paid Advertisement, Email Marketing are used. | Word of mouth or referral strategy is often followed to reach customers. |
| You have to win the trust of your audience, along with which you also recommend your affiliate product to them and tell them about the benefits they get from it. | You have to be constantly active and keep interacting with new people. |
| You can grow Affiliate Marketing Business by using Digital Marketing Tactics. | You are taught Sales & Communication which is necessary to add new members. |
| You can start your journey by joining Trusted Affiliate Merchants of India. | Finding Reputable & Trustworthy MLM Company is a headache. |
| Here people are provided with Value and their trust is won so that they believe your words and sign up for your Recommended Product. | To reach more people, it is promoted as Get Rich Quick Scheme and efforts are made to influence people. |
With this Affiliate Marketing Vs Network Marketing Comparison, you must have got an idea of how which industry works.
Now if you have understood about what is MLM, what is Affiliate Marketing And Network Marketing Difference, then now go ahead and understand which of these two industries you should choose.
Which Industry is best – Affiliate Marketing Vs Multi-Level Marketing
To choose the right industry from Affiliate Marketing Vs Network Marketing, you must know exactly what is Affiliate Marketing and what is Network Marketing.
If you have reached here, then I assume that you must have understood the meaning of these two.
Often a question comes here – Can we do this with our Full Time Job or Business?
I believe that you can do Affiliate Marketing And Network Marketing with your business or regular job.
In the beginning, it may take a little more time, but if you give some time to these businesses, then within a few months or a year, you will start getting passive income in the form of commission.
But, the question is in which of the two industries to make a career?
For this you have to understand your Interest, Passion and Skills.
In Network Marketing, people have to build their downline by connecting with them and build a network.
On the other hand, in Affiliate Marketing, you do not need to recruit or connect any person with you.
Here your Commission Rate also depends on the Product & Services sold by you, which you sell yourself with the help of Online Mediums.
So if you are interested in connecting with new people and adding them to your network, then MLM Industry can prove to be the best choice for you.
But, if you want to run your business independently and want to earn more money in the form of commission, then Affiliate Marketing Business Model will be suitable for you.
For your information, let me tell you that many new people choose MLM from Affiliate Marketing Vs Multi level Marketing.
This happens because most of the MLM companies give training to their employees in many ways to increase their business and to add more and more members.
She teaches how to communicate with new people, how to convince them by telling the benefits of becoming a member or the benefits related to the product, what to keep the sales strategy, etc.
All these skills help a person to lead a successful life and are essential for personality development.
That’s why some people join with Network Marketing Companies only to learn these skills and attend their Seminars, Live Classes & Meetings.
At the same time, to be successful in Affiliate Marketing, you learn Advanced Digital Marketing Strategies like Content Creation, Copywriting, Search Engine Optimization, Paid Advertisement, Landing Page Design and Funnels.
In this way, you can choose the right skill from Affiliate Marketing Vs Network Marketing according to your Interest, Passion and desire to learn.
Final Verdict – Affiliate Marketing Vs Network Marketing
Often people do not know the difference between Affiliate Marketing and Network Marketing and they consider both to be the same.
Affiliate Marketing Meaning is to earn commission by promoting products of another person or company, which I have also mentioned above in the “What is Affiliate Marketing” section.
At the same time, under Multi Level Marketing, you have to add new members to you while selling the company’s products.
To tell the difference between the two, many factors are seen like – Entry Fees, Networking, Commission Distribution, Sales & Communication Training, etc.
In today’s blog – Affiliate Marketing Vs Network Marketing, we saw some of these differences and understood in detail what is the difference between Affiliate Vs Network Marketing.
Now it depends on you in which industry you want to make your career.
However, as I mentioned earlier, both the industries can be grown with the help of digital marketing and good money can be earned.
When you learn digital marketing, with the help of its different strategies, you can create many sources of income for yourself – affiliate marketing and network marketing are only two sources.